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http://dx.doi.org/10.5713/ajas.2013.13124

The Relationship between Farmers' Perceptions and Animal Welfare Standards in Sheep Farms  

Kilic, I. (Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Afyon Kocatepe University)
Bozkurt, Z. (Department of Animal Husbandry, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Afyon Kocatepe University)
Publication Information
Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences / v.26, no.9, 2013 , pp. 1329-1338 More about this Journal
Abstract
In this study, we investigated the relationship between welfare standards in sheep farms and farmers' perceptions of factors affecting animal welfare. We developed a scale of 34 items to measure farmers' perceptions of animal welfare. We examined the relationships among variables in farmers' characteristics, our observations, and farmers' expressed perceptions through a t test, variance analysis and correlation analysis. Results of the research suggested that higher welfare standards for sheep exist on farms run by farmers who have a higher perception level of animal welfare. These farmers believed that personnel and shelter conditions were more effective than veterinary inspection, feeding and other factors in terms of animal welfare. In addition, we detected a significant relationship between the farmers' perceptions and their gender, educational level, whether they enjoyed their work, or whether they applied the custom of religious sacrifice. Our results showed that emotional and cognitive factors related to farmers' perceptions may offer opportunities for progress in the domain of animal welfare.
Keywords
Animal Welfare; Farmer' Perception; Perceptions-welfare Relationship; Sheep;
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